I rcvd the 2nd best birthday gift today. My 1st was being born to my beloved parents.
Found out a few minutes ago that my oldest brother achieved his 1 year of sobriety.
I know first hand what a difficult path it is, As I and my middle brother us 3 all have addictions, addictive behaviours.
My beloved Poppa was an alcoholic most of my life. He mixed alcohol with drugs. Grateful that I got my Poppa back.
His last 5yrs were sober. Fought and beat cancer twice. First colon, then Stage IV lung cancer.
The lung cancer is what caught up to him due to having one lung. He got severe pneumonia back 2014.
With one lung his fight was limited. Had 2 blood clots that caused heart attacks. Then as a family made one of the most difficult collective decisions to date to remove his life support in the ICU.
Being a Priest and Missionary for an Addiction Recovery Program has allowed myself to achieve a sober way of life for 2 decades.
July 31st I will start a new milestone in my life, my 21st yr of sober living.
All Glory, honour goes to God and Jesus Christ. Without them I am nothing.
Another gift from my oldest brother is that within the last 6 months he has become based as HELL!
Awakened to the utter bull shite that has been going on in this nation and world. He shares and puts out some terrifc truths of lies of the DS and fake news.
He lives in California and a stauch conservative. His views have gotten more Christ centered.
Do unto others, to bring peace, joy, and love with whom we interact on a daily basis.
His is FULLY awakened. Drugs and alcohol kept him in a stupor of not given one shite for anything in the world.
Having him woke, based in the truths of the greatest battle of our time, and sober makes his baby brother weep tears of utmost joy.
Truly.......
We We Go 1 We Go All
Love this post so much! My baby brother has fallen off the wagon so many times and is still currently drinking today. I hope and pray to be where you and your family are one day soon! God is good every day! Bless you and your sweet family! (I might have something in my eyes now.)
Lalahemingway...
I fully understand where your brother is currently. I struggled for 6.5yrs trying to do it 'On my own'.
The longest tenure of being sober was 1yr. The shortest only 5 minutes after I cried Crocodile tears to my parents that I was done using.
Then proceeded to steal one of my mother's credit cards to get high.
One is nor truly within her/his right mind when one is addicted. One's brain chemistry is altered to which ever substance(s) one chooses to utilize.
Smh, I was not a good person back then. I was filled with darkness and had no relationship with God or Jesus Christ.
I did not believe in either nor the 'other guy' who had me within myself imposed bondage. I used to rail against all things of Light, especially to those who were Christ centered.
I was a complete arse hole. I'd go out of my way to bring my hellish state of mind and life upon them because I was a miserable bass turd back then.
I started with porn at the age of 8yrs, the 4th grade. Started to smoke then too. My addiction increased chasing the various highs my body, mind sought to always increase the dopamine levels in my brain from my addictive choices.
No loved one can 'force' another loved ones choices to become sober. A judge sure in hell can.
My middle brother had 2 options when he wrapped his car around a telephone pole... Jail time or go into treatment which he opted for.
That's when my family had a pseudo wake up moment with our addictive behaviours. My brother was 21 at the time.
To help him with his sober way of living back then the family also had to come clean. Admit how each one of us ie myself, 2 older brothers and my Poppa kept each other stuck.
Of course we all had our agency. As an addict the world was my oyster especially when this brother was also a Coke dealer.
Gd hell crazy wicked times. That was the only time I stopped that particular addiction cold turkey after a huge scare of reality of intense chest pain that scared me straight off of Coke, yet my addict mind and self wasn't ready to embrace sobriety.
I was constantly flipping my addictive behaviours. One NEEDS to find the root cause(s) why.chooses to use. Fix that particular issue within ones life then work on the substances.
I Will pray for your brother and others. God knows His children who need His help. He is no respector of persons. His Love is universal.
All the best you
I hear you and completely understand. My parents enabled my brother's addiction for years while he still lived at home in his early 20s. Now he's nearly 50.
He was sober for about 4 years and turned the addictive behavior to working out. He got buff as hell going to the gym twice a day and literally got to below 9% body fat. For a 6'1" man, he looked odd... like skin stretched over a mass of muscles and bone. Then, he threw out his back. Immediately went back to booze and has been there since for about the last decade.
You're so right about finding the root cause of the behavior. I'm talking with him later on today and will mention our chat here. Thanks for sharing your story and taking the time to chat with me! And congrats again on your brother's news!